Category Archives: Relationships

Tennessee is a strange place. Earlier this year a very interesting decision was handed down by a Tennessee Federal District Court, Targonksi v. City of Oak Ridge. The case is a typical sexual harassment case by a female police officer against her supervisor. The female plaintiff claimed that she was subjected to a ‘hostile work environment’ because her supervisor was allegedly “spreading sexual rumors” about her. According to Plaintiff, her supervisor told her that he thought she was “a lesbian and I wanted to be part of” an orgy the supervisor was trying to coordinate.

Plaintiff testified at her deposition, “I’m a Christian and I strive really hard to be a moral person. So for someone to start thinking of me as someone who has orgy parties at my house while my son is home, that’s severely humiliating to me.” Plaintiff further testified that she would never “go out and talk to people about” such things, even in a joking manner.

Curiously, however, a few months after the sexual rumors were allegedly spread, she Facebooked about her desire for a female friend to join her “naked in the hot tub.” Moreover, she discussed “naked Twister” during a party at a cabin in the woods. Even more damming, she talked about female orgies involving herself, another female, and others, to be filmed by her very own husband.

I know about a hundred people who have had relationships within their workplace. I’m sure you know a hundred more. Well, The Office had an entire episode about interoffice relationships. Joshua Drexler at the ‘That’s what she said’ blog (one of my favorites) has a great post on the subject.

After posting the above link I found another one worth mentioning. Apparently, the Vault does an annual ‘office romance’ survey. Employers and employees in will find this interesting. A few of the highlights are:

41% of employees in the general population claim to have never participated in an office romance.

40% of employees report “avoiding or curtailing a potential romance that they would have otherwise pursued specifically to avoid an office romance.”

Among those who have engaged in an office romance, 26% have dated a subordinate, and 18% have dated their boss.

These percentages were worse than I expected, but not surprising. You may find it humorous to note that lawyers are particularly bad when it comes to romance in the office. As opposed to 41% in the general population, 36% of lawyers have “never participated in an office romance.” I bet that number changes when you look specifically at labor and employment attorneys. They would know better. But that’s just my hunch.

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Its main goal is to explain key employment laws that every employee in California should know. The information presented here is derived from real court decisions and statutes, and is intended to help everyday folks understand the complex world of employment law. Please note, however, that nothing presented here is intended as legal advice. See the disclaimer above.